Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

• Central committee to submit report to Mangalore University 
• Seven colleges have sought autonomy
• `Procedure of starting new courses not clear'

Mangalore, Jan 31: A central committee constituted by Mangalore University to consider requests for autonomy from seven degree colleges has completed its inspection. The committee will submit a report to the university, according to sources in the university.

The sources told The Hindu that St. Aloysius College, Mangalore; St. Agnes College, Mangalore; St. Ann's College, Mangalore; School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore; Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara College, Ujire; Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College, Udupi; and Bhandarkar's College, Kundapur, had applied for autonomy.

The report would be first placed before the Syndicate and the Academic Council for their observations. Later, the report along with the observations made by the decision-making bodies of the university would be sent to the Government for approval, they said.

In February 2005, the University Grants Commission (UGC) agreed to grant autonomy to the seven colleges based on the recommendations of an expert committee of the UGC, which visited the colleges between September 10, 2004 and October 13, 2004.

The State Government had approved the statute of the university to grant autonomy to its degree colleges. But some aspects about the procedure of starting new courses were not clear. Hence, even if the autonomy was granted to the colleges, they might face difficulty in starting new courses, especially postgraduate courses, the sources said.